(July 10, 2013) Myanmar has released 42 child soldiers from its armed forces, following
pressure from the UN to accelerate efforts to eliminate the practice as the country
emerges from military rule. Ashok Nigam, UN resident coordinator said: “We are very
happy for the 42 children and their families, but we must accelerate efforts so that
many more children benefit from release." "We expect the Tatmadaw - Myanmar army will
now be in a position to speed up the release of all children," he added. According
to the UN’s statement, 34 of those freed were under 18, while the remaining eight
were young people who had been recruited as children. They had performed soldiering
and other duties. For decades, the recruitment of child soldiers has been a persistent
issue for the country’s armed forces, which remains engaged in fighting with a number
of ethnic insurgent groups. Myanmar’s reformist government agreed to register all
children in its forces by November last year and release them from service by December.
But the registration process is “far from complete”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said,
and the Myanmar military has failed to remove incentives to fulfill unit quotas that
encourage child recruitment. Source: UN